Darkness Consuming
by imaginair
Summary: Darkrai gives a final attempt to create a world of darkness while simultaneously, Cyrus is attempting to create a new world. This causes a rift between the two universes causing Ash and Darkrai to switch places. Will Ash ever get back home? Will Darkrai learn compassion and stop the evil rather than causing it? PMD and anime crossover!
1. Chapter 1

Darkness Consuming

**A/N: This was inspired by a prompt by FrozenFlames12 on what if Ash were Darkrai. This is a crossover between the PMD world and the anime. Mainly focuses on the anime specifically the XYZ series. There will be some amourshipping, but uh... not the way you expect. Enjoy! Don't usually write for the anime so I might have some of the characters wrong! Sorry!**

'All my plans ruined,' Darkrai thought angrily as he floated in the depths of Dark Crater staring at the entrance that gaped wide revealing only inky darkness. 'The world could have been covered in glorious darkness and my chance to rule the entire world was destroyed by an idiotic Pikachu and a former human. They'll have the Distortion World to pay for what they've done.'

An Arbok timidly came forward, keeping his eyes low and strained on the crumbling rock and dirt of the cave's floor and said, "M-Master, th-the-"

"Stop stuttering!" Darkrai roared as he generated dark energy and sent it bursting from him in a powerful pulse which sent the Arbok and several of his minions flying and crashing into the cave's pillars and stalagmites. The other pathetic Pokemon huddled behind each other and the rocks while lying prostrate and begging him for forgiveness.

The Arbok meanwhile got up from where he had crashed into the wall of the cave and hunched down while saying, "Master, the explorers, Team Sonder, have come to the lowest level. They'll be here shortly."

"Good," Darkrai said coldly. "Then we can finish off these fools once and for all. Get into position. When they come, don't attack until I say so. Understood?"

"Yes Master," they all muttered as they got into a circle around the cave entrance and Darkrai enshrouded them in darkness.

It wasn't long after this that they heard voices echoing from the black abyss. Soon light began to emerge as a small Pikachu and a Charmander walked inside relying on the light emanating from his tail. They walked toward the back of the cave where lava oozed and bubbled in a large pit. "This looks like a dead end," the Pikachu said as he looked around nervously at the cracked walls and overhanging stalactites that cast eerie shadows. "Darkrai said he'd be here… I mean… I wouldn't be surprised if that was a lie, but I expected that he'd do something at least."

'Poor naïve fools,' Darkrai thought snidely as he quickly darted forward still cloaked in shadows and used hypnosis on the Charmander causing the former human to slump to the floor as sleep overcame him. Darkrai quickly hid back by the walls of the cavern as the Pikachu screamed his partners name, but Darkrai ignored him as he entered into the Charmander's dream to turn it into a living nightmare.

As Darkrai entered the Dream Realm, he saw the idiotic human blinking in confusion. He disguised himself as the Pikachu and stood by the Charmander's side and he conjured an image of himself to stand in front of them. Darkrai relished in watching the reactions of the idiotic human as he explained his plan to plunge the world into darkness by first disrupting the time stream by stealing the time gears. The look on the fool's face was priceless when he learned that Darkrai had attacked him while he was traveling with Grovyle back in time.

"I was going to eliminate you and your little friend over there, but I've had a change in heart," the image of Darkrai said calmly. "You've shown great power and courage. Why not join me? Rule with me in a world of darkness."

Darkrai who was still disguised as Pikachu said, "He's right. We've worked so hard, and for what? I know that the future of darkness looked bad, but it doesn't have to be like that. If we rule alongside Darkrai, we can make it better." Darkrai then walked away from the former human, trying to hide a smirk as he looked back and innocently said, "It really is for the best. We'll be helping the world this way."

The idiot's face was to die for. The look of hurt and betrayal etched on the Charmander's face was enough to make Darkrai satisfied, but hopefully it was also enough to convince the human to join his side. The Charmander's unusual ability to access the Dimensional Scream would be very helpful when he ruled as the king of this world. Darkrai smiled sweetly and called to the former human, "Come join us. A world full of darkness will be beautiful."

Before the Charmander could react, a burst of bright light shot through the Dream Realm causing the illusion to crack and finally shatter plunging them back into the waking world. Darkrai hissed in frustration and looked up to see the culprit who was currently shining brightly as she descended from the hole she had created to break into the depths of the cave. Cresselia. Her lovely body glowed with energy while her pink extremities pulsated with light; her blue and yellow body emanated a soft warmth which filled the Pikachu and former human healing them and giving them hope.

"YOU!" Darkrai roared sending out a pulse of dark energy directly to Cresselia which she easily avoided with a slight roll to the side. "This doesn't involve you. Get out."

"This has everything to do with me," Cresselia said firmly. "You've chosen to try and create a world of darkness. You wish to plunge them into a realm of nightmare which is something I will never allow." Cresselia then sent out a ray of light towards Darkrai which he narrowly avoided before it collided into a stalagmite causing the rock to burst and crumble from the force of the impact. "When will you learn that darkness will never destroy light?"

"Well, we'll see about that Cresselia," Darkrai hissed, "You've told me the same words for the past several eons, but it's time you and all the Legendaries learn to never underestimate me. I will rule. I will be the king of this world and you," Darkrai raced upwards with his hands glowing with energy before he thrust it out to Cresselia, "will bow before me!"

Darkrai screamed to his minions, "Kill Team Sonder! I'll deal with this one myself." He looked pointedly at Cresselia and lunged again for an attack which she dodged as she flew across the cave—light streaming out from behind her as she went. She flipped in the air and turned back to Darkrai flying at high speeds as she generated another burst of light energy which she shot at Darkrai. Below them chaos ensued as Darkrai's minions viciously attacked Team Sonder, but the two young Pokemon were easily able to push back. 'They won't win! Not this time! I won't let them!' Darkrai thought as he went in for another attack.

* * *

Cyrus gazed in awe at the incredible sight in front of him. Finally, after all these years of research into the original power, time spent studying the legends and learning to harness the power of the red chains; his plans were finally coming to fruition. Above him hovering in the darkness of the underground cave were the two legendaries Palkia and Dialga currently bound tightly by the red chains. He may have lost his control over Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf, but that didn't mean he couldn't still create his new world.

"Dialga ruler of time, Pakia ruler of space release your powers now and create a new universe before me," Cyrus cried accessing the Original power contained with his glove. The two legendaries cried in pain as the red chains tightened around them causing them to simultaneously shoot bursts of green and white energy to the area the children and the Lake Trio had just been standing over an ancient inscription. The two lines of energy collided causing a large sphere of light and power to be created. The sphere began to expand revealing a void where there were galaxies and worlds without end.

"We have to stop them," Cynthia called from behind Cyrus. "Garchomp use draco meteor on the red chains." The Garchomp immediately generated red energy which then descended towards the bound legendaries.

"Pikachu use thunderbolt," Ash yelled causing the small yellow Pokemon to bound quickly towards the legendaries while sending out a bright wave of electricity. Dawn's Piplup sent a wave of bubbles and Brock's Croagunk used poison sting.

"Dialga use roar of time. Palkia use spacial rend," Cyrus roared which caused the two legendaries to turn towards the young trainers and send bursts of energy which overpowered Pikachu, Piplup and Croagunk's attack and continued toward the three defenseless trainers. Fortunately, Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit flew in front of them and protected them from becoming nothing more than a pile of dust.

Cyrus stared avidly at the glorious sphere in front of him showing him the spiraling galaxies contained within. "This universe… it's perfect," Cyrus breathed. "A world without emotion. One governed without heart or conscious. Perfect."

"Oh, it's wonderful," Mars said excitedly. "Let's not wait any longer and go inside to see it for ourselves!"

Cyrus scoffed, "Please. You don't have a place there. You'd only ruin it. This world belongs only to me." Cyrus didn't even bother to look at Mars' hurt expression as he walked by Charon, Saturn, and Mars towards the glowing sphere.

"We need to attack the red chains again," Cynthia yelled. This caused the Pokemon including the Lake Trio to attack the red chains binding the legendaries once more, and this time, the attacks hit causing them to come apart in a burst of energy.

Cyrus ignored them as he felt himself be lifted from the ground and be pulled toward the new universe. He didn't care that Dialga and Palkia fell to the ground next to him having been released from their chains. All he could think of was the world he would go to. One freed from any of the feelings that so often plagued humans including himself. The light encompassed him to his relief, but it was short lived as the legendaries had at that point gotten back to their feet and sent out beams of power destroying both him and his new universe.

* * *

Darkrai fell to the ground in defeat—his limbs shaking from all the exertion of expending all his energy to defeat Cresselia. She was hovering victoriously above him bathed in bright pulsating light with the Pikachu and Charmander standing next to her. All his minions had long since been defeated with him being the last to fall. "It's over Darkrai," Cresselia said as she hovered closer to his fallen figure. "Now it's time to face the consequences for what you've done."

Rays of light began to stream from Cresselia and wrap themselves around Darkrai's weakened body. Darkrai tried to move, but he couldn't so much as stir one of his arms. The stream of light surrounded Darkrai so that he was completely enveloped in an orb of see-through light. He was lifted up from the ground and brought to Cresselia's eye-level, "For your crimes, Lord Palkia and Dialga wanted to wipe you from existence. However, since you yourself are also a legendary, it's necessary for you to continue the balance of darkness in the world and nightmares in the Dream Realm. Instead, the Lake Trio will completely wipe your mind so that there will be no trace of your former self."

Darkrai's blue eye widened in horror and in a final struggle to escape Cresselia's light prison, he used the last shred of his energy to cause a burst of darkness to break apart the strands of light binding him. Darkrai quickly flew from the trio and created a time vortex, and yelled, "I may have failed this time, but isn't that the wonderful thing about time travel. I can try again over and over until the world is at last plunged into darkness."

He reached the vortex, glanced back and cackled at the terrified looks of the two Pokemon and Cresselia's infuriated one. "What does it feel like? Knowing that in the end, I'll have the ultimate victory!"

Before he could slip into the time vortex, a booming voice bellowed, "I WON'T ALLOW THAT!"

Darkrai felt himself go cold as he recognized the all too familiar sound of Palkia's roar. Amidst the rumbling and crashing of the dozens of stalactites, a blinding light engulfed them only to reveal Palkia's mighty form. Palkia roared at Darkrai, "YOU WILL PAY A GRAVE PRICE FOR EXPANDING THE DISTORTION OF SPACE AS WELL AS CORRUPTING THE TIME STREAM!" A blinding light of bright energy began growing in Palkia's mouth, "THIS IS A STRIKE OF JUSTICE!"

Terrified, Darkrai turned and fled for the time vortex and entered it just as Palkia's attack hit it causing it to fracture and completely shatter.

* * *

Simultaneously, in Ash's universe the Lake Trio attempted to negate the effects of the recently destroyed new universe by giving their own energy to calm the building destruction radiating from the empty void of blackness. This caused a rift to be created between both universes. The power from the rift became strong, and the Lake Trio attempted to fly from the expanding wormhole linking the universes, but they were still being slowly sucked in. Ash seeing their struggle ran over to help. He pulled them from the rift so that they could be free, but he himself was then lifted into the air and was absorbed into the inky blackness of the wormhole.

Pikachu screamed Ash's name and ran over to help his friend, but another blinding flash of light filled Spear Pillar along with a deafening crack of thunder. Pikachu felt an object collide into him as if the strange rift had spat out something from inside it. 'Ash,' Pikachu thought desperately. When the rift between the universes had calmed, Pikachu ran over to the fallen figure. Pikachu recognized the spiky black hair and general features of Ash, but his clothes were all black with red lining the cuffs and zipper.

Something else seemed to be off about Ash, but Pikachu wasn't sure what it was. _"Ash? Ash?"_ Pikachu incessantly shook Ash's limp form. _"Ash get up! Cyrus is gone and everything's okay! Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf are okay along with Dawn and Brock. Look, Cynthia and Looker are arresting Team Galactic. Come on Ash, you have to open your eyes!"_

Ash's eyes slowly opened, but Pikachu noticed that Ash's eyes seemed… darker… Pikachu would go so far as to say they seemed cruel and even a little malevolent. Ash took one look at Pikachu and scrambled away from him. "Get away from me you little pest! What's happening? Where are we?" Ash looked away and blanched when he saw the Lake Trio and Dialga and Palkia panting on the floor of Spear Pillar. "No. You won't stop me by getting rid of me. I'll rule this world as king of darkness. You won't be able to stop me. Do you understand you little prick?" Ash hissed at Pikachu.

_"Ash, what's wrong?"_ Pikachu asked desperately. _"What happened when you went into that weird hole in space? You're being so mean right now. Did something change?"_

"Who the Distortion World is Ash?" Ash asked harshly. "I'm Darkrai your future king and lord of darkness."

"Ash are you alright?" Dawn asked as she ran to his side and took his hand. "I didn't know if you'd be able to make it out of there."

Darkrai yanked his hand from Dawn's and hissed, "Human. What are you doing here? Your species have long since gone extinct." That's when the legendary noticed that there were dozens of humans everywhere. "Wait… what's happened? Why are there humans… what…" Darkrai then looked down at his body and saw to his horror saw that he now had two pairs of legs and hands and arms made of fleshy material. Darkrai felt his face and ran his hand through his black hair. "No, No, NO!" Darkrai screamed as realization hit him. "No I can't be a human! NO!"

"Ash what's going on?" Dawn asked worriedly. "Brock, I think Ash might have a concussion or something. He's not making any sense."

"We'll need to get him to a hospital," Brock said in agreement. "It looks like Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit have managed to send Palkia and Dialga back to their homes so we should be able to leave."

At that point, Mesprit came up to say goodbye to Dawn as Uxie did for Brock, but when Azelf came up to Darkrai, he yelled, "Get out of my sight you pathetic excuse of a legendary! You come any closer and I'll send you into a never-ending nightmare! Dark type beats psychic type any day. Remember that you weak, insignificant-"

Cynthia quickly stepped in and said to a rather upset Azelf, "Um, Ash probably has a concussion and doesn't mean anything he's saying. Please forgive him."

"I mean every word I say," Darkrai hissed, "Palkia will pay for turning me into a human." The police and paramedics came at that point to take Darkrai away, but that didn't stop Darkrai from spewing out a profuse amount of profanities to poor Azelf. "Do you hear me Palkia! If I can't rule my own world, I'll just conquer this one!"

* * *

Ash groaned and groggily opened his eyes to see that he was in a very dark area. 'I must be still in Spear Pillar.' Ash suddenly remembered the Lake Trio and sat upright, "Azelf!? Uxie! Mesprit!" Ash looked around and felt fear begin to seep in his veins as he saw that he was currently on a stone path that wrapped around the mountain. It must have been nighttime since it was dark, and a perpetual murky haze lingered over the horizon. Ugly gray boulders remained suspended above the ground as if they were meant to crash into the ground, but for some odd reason, they stayed their floating lifelessly. Ash looked over to where a waterfall streamed down, but the water and droplets stayed suspended in the air never to fall.

"Is anyone here!" Ash called fearfully trying not to let panic set in. He got up and began wandering down the path, "Hello! Brock!? Dawn!? Cynthia!?" Still there was no response, and the longer Ash stayed in this area, the more uncomfortable he became. There was no breeze here, the only sound was the falling of his footsteps along the crumbling stone path. It wasn't just that though—there was an overhanging atmosphere of… evil. As if all goodness and happiness had been taken out of this world. "Please someone, anyone. Can you help me!?"

"A-Are you a human?" Ash heard a voice call from behind a black boulder.

"Um… yes. Can you help me? I need to get back to my friends. The last thing I remember was being sucked into this weird hole that had opened up in Spear Pillar. Do you know where we are? Do you know what's… wrong with this place?"

"You're a human… you must be from another world. Humans haven't been alive in thousands of years. This place that you see feels wrong because… because time no longer works here. It's a world of darkness where Primal Dialga rules absolutely."

"Time doesn't work?" Ash asked looking out to the dark world where the trees seemed more like black statues and nothing whatsoever stirred. "Does… does that mean it's always dark and… awful… like this? All the time?"

"Yes," the voice called. "I… I've never seen the sun in my lifetime. I've only ever known darkness…"

"That's terrible," Ash whispered. What had he gotten himself into? A world with no light and only darkness? Would he ever see his friends and family again? "I have to get out of here."

"Well… I don't know how you will. Maybe you could talk to Palkia, but Primal Dialga has banished him so that he can rule here without any other legendary. You'd have to restore time first to make Dialga more reasonable and then… then maybe you could talk to Palkia to send you back to wherever you came from."

Ash nodded, "I'll do it. I need to get back to Pikachu and the others. Will you help me?"

There was a moment of silence before Ash heard a small, "If it returns the light to our world, then yes." Ash heard some shuffling and out from behind a rock came a green Pokemon. It was a Grovyle.


	2. Chapter 2

Cresselia peacefully crested along the swirls of mist and cloud as she ascended ever higher towards the Hall of Origin where tall columns and golden spirals glinted in blinding light. Soaring around her was Mew, Jirachi, and many others all having been summoned to access the situation of the tear created between this fabric of the universe and that of another.

When Cresselia entered through the golden entrance leading into the sweeping Hall, she saw dozens of legendaries had already assembled there. Most lined the sides respectfully looking up at the elevated platform where Arceus stood with his many plates gently swirling around him. Dialga and Palkia flanked his side and were already in a heated debate, but the most prominent feature was the large black line slicing through the Hall directly behind Arceus.

Once the legendaries had all assembled themselves, Arceus said softly, "I see that we're missing one," he looked directly over at Cresselia who was hovering next to Mew and an empty spot where Darkrai would have usually floated.

"It doesn't matter that he's not here," Palkia grumbled. "He tried to destroy the entire world for his personal gain. He's not much different than Giratina in my opinion."

Arceus sighed as he floated in the middle of the legendaries which immediately ended Palkia's grumblings. "How many times must I tell you that Giratina is also serving her purpose in the Distortion World," Arceus said quietly as he looked back at both Palkia and Dialga. "There must be a balance in everything. To have order, there must also be chaos. To have health, there must be sickness. For there to be truth, there must also be lies." Arceus then floated over to where Cresselia was hovering, "To have light and peaceful dreams, there must also be dark and nightmares. When this balance is lost, the universe can no longer properly function."

Arceus glided over to where the black slice in reality was, and said quietly, "That is what we're seeing now. The universe is not complete without each legendary here to create balance and harmony. However, this extends beyond our own universe. In the universe Darkrai escaped to, there was a boy he exchanged places with. This boy is their 'Chosen One' or a human meant to protect their universe from the destruction of both legendaries and humans. He was destined to save that universe multiple times, but with him in this world, he will no longer be able to do such a thing. Eventually, this disruption will lead both our universes to collapse within themselves."

The legendaries began to worriedly whisper amongst themselves, and Cresselia said, "What can we do to stop this? The threat of a world of darkness was one thing, but this entails the destruction of two universes."

Arceus was silent for a moment as he gazed out at the dark line, and said in his usual cryptic fashion, "Though time may be fluid, it ultimately runs in a continuous round which makes it nearly impossible to alter it completely. Already events have been put into place which prevents the human from being pulled from this universe. If we were to do so, it would have cataclysmic effects on this universe." Arceus paused for a moment, "However, Darkrai has all the capabilities of fulfilling the boy's roles as Chosen One in that universe."

"Um… with all due respect, Lord Arceus, but um… this is Darkrai we're talking about," Mesprit said irritably. "He's more likely to personally ruin that universe than he is to save it. If we let him have free reign of that world, he'll probably find some way to become the 'king of darkness' just like he always wants."

"I am aware," Arceus said. "It is why I have gathered you all here. Darkrai will not willfully help others, but if one of you could ensure that the heroic acts are performed in that universe and that Darkrai is brought back into this universe, the balance will be restored and protected."

"How long would we have to be in that universe?" Kyogre asked.

"Until the human in this world successfully completes his task here," Arceus said simply. "In this time frame, he's already completed his task which means that for us now, the restoration of balance will take place within the next few minutes. However, the time frame is different in the other universe meaning it will take much, much longer. Possibly years."

Again, the legendaries murmured amongst themselves, and Cresselia said, "I'll do it. I was supposed to stop Darkrai in the first place and I failed in my mission. If I do this, it'll mean that I was successful."

She heard Jirachi mutter, "Are we sure she should go? I mean, I know that Darkrai and-"

"I'm perfectly capable of doing this," Cresselia said sharply as a warm light pulsed from her. "I most certainly won't let Darkrai's betrayal result in the destruction of two universes."

Arceus nodded, "I believe Cresselia would be the best option. Come child." Cresselia floated over to where Arceus was hovering by the rift and he continued, "You will have all your memories of this life, but your form will be altered to best suit the situation. You will still have access to all your powers though, and you will need them if you are to ever successfully complete this assignment."

Cresselia nodded and tried to remain calm as Arceus began glowing brightly with power and the blinding light completely enveloped Cresselia. She felt as if her body were being stretched and reshaped while at the same time being squeezed through a tight funnel. Her body became cold and clammy, but at the same time she felt like she was burning with a fever. Cresselia cried out in pain as the uncomfortable feeling became more intense until all was darkness.

* * *

Darkrai groaned as he stirred and groggily opened his eyes revealing a stark white room with lacy curtains and a window allowing harsh sunlight to stream inside. Next to him he saw all sorts of mechanical devices with lines going through them and making irritating beeping noises. He looked down and saw that he was in a bed of some sort with stiff white linen and hard pillows, but that's not what he upset him.

"Which of you filthy humans had the gall to strap me to this infernal bed!" Darkrai roared as he pulled against the restraints attached to his hands and feet. Darkrai tried to reach for his dark energy, but it felt distant… as if it were blocked off from him. He looked down and saw the idiotic yellow rodent huddled on his bed next to him. "You! Get me out of here now!"

The Pikachu shook his head, _"Nurse Joy said that whatever happened to you might have caused you to snap since you were so violent when they took you to the hospital. They even had to sedate you because you kept saying that you'd make the doctors see the deaths of their families over and over in their nightmares. You were really scary, Ash."_

"My name isn't Ash," Darkrai growled. "Like I said, I'm Darkrai. I don't come from this stupid world. I was changed into a human and then stripped of my powers. Ugh… to be a human is fate worse than death… is it any wonder that Palkia did this."

_"I'm not sure what you're talking about_," Pikachu said quietly. _"You don't look like a Darkrai… you look like Ash. Besides, why would Palkia even send you to this world?"_

Darkrai sighed and leaned his head back onto the pillow, "It's complicated. He might have not meant to send me here… but he sure as Giratina lives wanted to make me forget who I am. I'll never forgive that son-of-a-"

"Morning Ash," a cheerful voice sounded from the doorframe of his hospital room revealing a girl with long blue hair and a white and pink beanie. "Are you feeling any better?"

"I'd be better if I wasn't forcibly tied to my bed," Darkrai grumbled as the human female walked over to his side.

The Piplup that she'd been holding jumped onto the bed and the girl continued, "We're just glad that you're alright Ash. You were acting super crazy when we first saw you. That's why the nurses had to restrain you."

Darkrai pursed his lips. Maybe he'd take a page out of Dusknoir's book and try to assimilate himself with these humans. He could gain their trust and their sympathy so that they wouldn't be scared of him or attack him. Darkrai smiled sweetly, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over me! I just saw something really scary when I went into that black void."

"That must have been terrifying," Dawn said sympathetically. "Here, let me undo your restraints."

'Stupid human,' Darkrai thought maliciously. 'So completely and utterly gullible.' Dawn quickly undid Darkrai's restraints which finally gave him some mobility. He got out of bed and asked, "So, can I leave this place now?"

Dawn shook her head, "Unfortunately the nurses said they have to run some more tests on you since you have an unknown source of energy inside you."

At that moment the door swung open a second time and in popped two ridiculous looking humans decked out like surgeons. One had her magenta hair tied into a tight bun and bright green glasses, a surgeon's mask, and a white lab coat. The other male human had blue hair also tied back with crazy glasses that made strange swirling squiggles and wore the same things the female did… including the dress. Strange. However, none of it was as strange as the Meowth who was also wearing a long lab coat, a wig of brown hair and a bizarre mustached. Darkrai imagined the Meowth must have been standing on a Pokemon or human of some sort to gain the height he had.

"We heard about the terrible things that happened to you with Team Galactic," the woman said with exaggerated sympathy and worry. "It's so awful! The damage you and especially your Pikachu received must have been devastating!"

"That's why we're here," the man said in a higher voice to emulate a female. "We were asked to check your Pikachu and make sure it's healthy."

To Darkrai's shock, the Meowth said like a human, "Dat's right!"

They then snatched Pikachu and scurried away while Pikachu called, _"Wait, I don't trust these three. You have to help me!"_

Darkrai shrugged and turned back to the human female who was still standing there smiling like an idiot. It wasn't his problem if some strange humans and a Meowth took away the Pikachu. He was about to say something to the female when he heard some yelling from outside the hospital, and Dawn's eyes went wide, "Oh no! I think I heard Pikachu using thunderbolt!"

'How can you tell, and why do you care?' He thought irritably as Dawn grabbed his hand and ran outside of the hospital room, through the reception room, and out through the main doors where Brock already stood with his Croagunk ready for battle. The humans had taken off their disguises and were now in uniforms with the letter "R" on them standing next to a large balloon in the shape of Meowth's head. The Meowth itself was holding a cage with Pikachu inside who was frantically trying to shock it.

"It's Team Rocket," Dawn said in shock—her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide in surprise.

'Oh Arceus, how stupid are these humans,' Darkrai thought bitterly as he listened to Team Rocket recite a little chant about who they were. He noticed that they said, 'to denounce the evils of truth and love,' this was good, 'to extend our reach to the stars above' even better. Darkrai interjected, "So, who do you three work for, and can I meet your leader."

"We just said that we're from Team Rocket," Jessie said huffily as she folded her arms and looked irritated. "Why would you want to meet the boss anyway?"

"Because if your ultimate goal is world domination, then I want in," Darkrai said simply. This caused everyone, including Team Rocket to gasp in horror. Darkrai ignored them and hopped into the basket of the air balloon, "Oh, and you can keep Pikachu. He's kind of annoying and I wouldn't mind getting rid of him."

Dawn screamed, "Ash! Pikachu's your friend, and Team Rocket's bad! They steal people's Pokemon!"

Darkrai rolled his eyes, "Oh please, you steal Pokemon from the wild, make them battle, and keep them in pokeballs." 'Well, if they're anything like the humans from my world used to be, then yes, these people also have Pokemon battles.' Darkrai continued, "I don't see much difference in doing this. Besides, what does it even mean to be 'good' or 'bad'? I could easily say you're all evil and be just as right in my own mind even if you think you're 'good.'" Darkria looked over at Team Rocket, "Come on, let's get going."

Team Rocket just stared at him before James said, "The twerp isn't supposed to say that. He's supposed to fight us and get Pikachu back while we blast off."

"Uh… are you feeling okay, twerp?" Jessie asked.

"Don't call me such a degrading title," Darkrai growled. "My name is D… Ash. Ash. Yes, and I want to meet your leader to see if I can somehow form an arrangement to make this world 'better' and more shall we say 'shaded.' Now come on, we don't have all day."

Again, the humans stared at him, and Pikachu yelled, _"You can't listen to anything they say! Team Rocket only wants to steal valuable Pokemon to take over the world!"_ Pikachu then looked at Darkrai with big round eyes and sincerely asked, _"You don't want that do you?"_

"Of course I do," Darkrai said. 'Only with me in charge instead of this Team Rocket organization,' Darkrai added silently to himself. 'Shouldn't be too hard seeing how easy it is to dispose of and manipulate humans.'

"Huh, da twerp can talk ta Pokemon now," Meowth said in confusion. He looked between the two and said, "Dat can't be our twerp which means dis ain't our Pikachu."

"Oh well, in that case we'll just let Pikachu go," Jessie said as she opened the cage and released Pikachu. The trio then jumped into the basket before tossing Darkrai out causing him to land hard on the grass lawn outside the hospital. "Team Rocket doesn't accept kids, twerp who's not our twerp."

"You'll pay for attacking me in such a way!" Darkrai roared as the trio sailed off in their balloon. In response to this Pikachu use thundershock on Team Rocket as well as Darkrai causing all three of them to yell as the electricity pulsed through them. This caused the balloon to explode and sent Team Rocket hurtling across the clear blue sky while screaming, "We're blasting off again!" before becoming nothing more than a twinkling light in the sky.

Darkrai fell once more to the ground and hissed at Pikachu, "You stupid little rodent. You electrocuted me!"

_"That's for trying to join Team Rocket and abandoning me to be taken by them," _Pikachu said angrily. _"You're right. You aren't Ash, but you aren't just Darkrai either. The Darkrai I know is kind and cares about people. You're a monster! What did you do to my Ash!?"_

"I don't know where your stupid friend is," Darkrai grumbled. Darkrai paused for a second before he said slowly, "… is Ash's last name… Ketchum?"

Pikachu's eyes brightened, _"YES! You know him then! Where is he? I need to find him!"_

Darkrai said, "… I know exactly who that insufferable human is. Well, technically former human now. The only problem is, he's in the universe I come from."

_"Oh no!"_ Pikachu said worriedly. _"We have to get him back as soon as possible."_ The Pikachu glowered at Darkrai, _"And I wouldn't be sad to see you leave back to your own universe either."_

"The feeling's mutual," Darkrai hissed before a sudden plan formed in his mind. "Of course, we can always work together to find a way to get out of here. Then you'll be reunited with your friend." 'And when I see that former human again, I'll destroy him for good. Then there'll be nothing keeping me from completing my plan.'

Pikachu eyed Darkrai suspiciously, _"I guess I don't have another choice if I want to see Ash again. Fine. We'll work together for now."_

Dawn and Brock had walked over to Darkrai by this point and Dawn said, "Wow Ash! That was so smart trying to use psychology to free Pikachu. Team Rocket really thought you weren't really you!"

'I'm surrounded by idiots,' Darkrai thought bitterly to himself. 'The sooner I can get out of here the better.'

**A/N: I always thought the Team Rocket trio were always good guys and that if they ever did really steal Pikachu, they'd end up letting him go. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. This won't be following Ash since if you've played PMD, you already know what happens. Reviews are always appreciated!**


End file.
